What We Kept Secret
by ILoveYouDearly
Summary: A series of drabbles surrounding Sesshomaru and Rin focusing particularly around the moments where she manages to soften his heart - or as she gets older - ignite it on fire. (SessxRin) (Slight AU)
1. Skipping & Sunflowers

There was skipping and sunflowers.

Sesshomaru was not accustomed to seeing either.

In all his days, Sesshomaru had never seen another creature _skip _on its heels the way that the little human Rin did now, her short arms full of flowers, halting just below his perch halfway up a tree. He thought at first something to be wrong with her; that maybe she had injured herself somehow in all that twisting and dancing around she had done in the middle of the clearing he was currently patrolling for signs of Naraku. But, he heard no sound of discomfort come from the child, nor smell any distress on her. Instead, she was humming a melody high in her throat and had a small smile plastered on her face.

"Lord Sesshomaru! I have something for you!"

He looked down at her blankly. The pup _knew_ he did not care for petty mortal things. So what could she possibly have to give? He eyed the bouquet that lay in her arms. She did not mean this, did she?

"What do you want with this Sesshomaru?" He inquired, his voice monotone and unamused, not making a motion to move from his place.

"Please, come down! I want to give you something!"

His eyes still bore into her tiny little face with the same empty expression.

"Oh, come on! _Pleaseeeeee_?"

Finding the infernal whine of the pup was more bothersome than actually coming down from his perch he dropped from the tree at once, curious but careful to keep his disinterested mask on. She motioned for him to kneel down and with a bit of coaxing and of course, more whining, he did.

After five minutes of more humming and her small hands in his hair, Rin stepped back from the Lord of the Western Lands with a satisfied look on her face.

"YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL," she stated in the loudest voice she could muster.

Jaken ran over from his post just across the clearing, presumably thinking something had gone awry given the volume of the girl's voice, but when his bulbous eyes set upon his master, Sesshomaru was surprised they did not pop straight from their sockets.

"MASTER, HOW COULD YOU LET HER DO THIS TO YOU? YOU ARE A LORD OF LANDS, YOU SHOULD HAVE A CROWN OF GOLD, NOT OF PLANTS! I NEVER –"

The imp's remark was cut short by the sound of Sesshomaru's fist meeting the crown of its head. Rin exploded into a fit of giggles as Jaken ran around bouncing from foot to foot trying to ease the pain of his aching skull.

Yes, it was true, Sesshomaru was the Lord of Lands. But, in this moment, protected by the forest just outside that clearing, he was willing to be Lord of Flowers.

If only for the sake of her smile.

And the stop of that damned whining.


	2. Dreary Dreams

For the third night in a row, Sesshomaru was staring at the night sky completely and utterly disgusted.

He deeply missed the nights where he had prowled freely in the dark, killing any who would come between he and power. But Naraku – that damned _creature_ – was proving to be a difficult thing to catch. More than a dozen times he had caught a scent trail – following it until it faded into the brush of some distant forest or forgotten and mutilated human town. But it always ended, so abruptly that Sesshomaru's teeth ground so deeply together he was afraid they would break. He needed to destroy the monster who had threatened his land. No threat was idle in his eyes.

When he had come upon the last town, full of human bodies and the stench of death, he did not feel a bit of remorse or heartache. He rarely ever did when it came to them. Sesshomaru held humans in regard to be equivalent of the mud of the earth, a species to be tolerated but given little mind. They were weak and terrified of everything. He had always found this pathetic and sometimes had killed them in the past just to demonstrate how utterly worthless they were. For centuries, he thought they could produce nothing good, nothing redeemable.

His eyes leveled upon the mess of dark hair in his camp.

That was all until one proved that not all of her kind were spineless and useless.

Those long months ago she found him injured. She had even put herself in harms' way, coming to him with bruises on her face and a swollen eye, wanting nothing more than to help him. He – a great dog-demon, who even in his weakened form could have easily snapped her neck. She had shown him kindness and even a smile. Sesshomaru had known very little of the two before her.

She was curled next to him now and had been so since what she said was a nightmare woke her from her sleep with Ah-Un. She had been bleary-eyed with tears on her cheeks and stumbled over her feet to his typical place against a tree in their camp. She had not asked to stay with him, only plopped herself down and snuggled against his mokomoko, seeking warmth and comfort.

He had not argued with the pup, for his seething anger and contempt for the one named Naraku made him nearly afraid to speak to her without lashing out. It was strange, he admitted half-heartedly to himself, although he had felt nothing about the brains falling out of half-destroyed skulls or missing limbs in that last town, he couldn't stand the fact that for the few moments before he ushered the girl away with a quick bark to Jaken, her chestnut eyes had darkened and any trace of smile she had had was gone.

Naraku had been the one to take out that light.

Naraku had been the one to cause the pup nightmares.

Sesshomaru promised that the beast would know every pain in this world imaginable for that.

AN: So I am thrilled with the feedback that I've gotten on this book of drabbles so far as well flattered by all the favs/follows. It was way more than I anticipated for just one chapter. THANK YOU! Also, just as another mention, although it says it in the summary please remember that this story is slightly AU, therefore scenes that go on or facts that are stated may or may not actually follow what actually happened in the Manga/Anime. So please don't panic!


	3. Racing Rivers

She was in the river.

The pup had insisted on helping Jaken procure a fish from the water, saying that she needed the practice. Jaken had complained and said that it would be hours before they ate if she helped and he was starving; however, as soon as he tried to throw his complaining gaze toward Sesshomaru, attempting to find an ally in his banter, he halted his rebuttal immediately and stammered, "A-AH, YES, HUMAN. CO-COME WITH ME."

The imp knew a murderous look when it was given to him.

She had haphazardly tucked the ends of her yukata into the obi at her waist to keep from getting wet as she went knee deep into the swallows, the kappa-demon squawking on and on about her scaring off all the fish.

"NEE-YAH, CREATURE, THE CURRENT IS TOO STRONG THERE. YOU WILL NEVER CATCH ANYTHING!"

The warnings were ignored and little Rin held up the poorly made spear Jaken had given her above her head. She intensely watched the water and waited.

It was only a few minutes of silence before she was driving her weapon into the river with a loud, "HIYAAAAAA!"

She was so incredibly animated in her attack that Sesshomaru was again afraid that something had gone mentally or physically wrong with the pup. Her lips were pulled back from her teeth like a rabid fox demon and she had thrown so much of body weight into the force of her blow, that she had to try to compensate for her forward motion or risk throwing herself face first into the bank. But of course, in all her carrying on and flailing she instead tipped herself backward, effectively causing her to lose her balance in a dramatic splash.

Although she was barely in a foot of water, the girl managed to soak herself. Sesshomaru could scarcely understand how she had managed such a feat. When the splash settled and Jaken was finishing jumping around and yelling at the girl, little Rin sat up in the riverbed with a triumphant smile on her face.

At first he did not know why she was grinning so widely because her act had been probably the most ungraceful thing he had seen since his bastard brother. But then she raised her fist above her head and inside her cupped hand was a medium sized fish that wiggled and twisted against her grip.

"I GOT ONE!" she shouted, as the imps jaw dropped in utter amazement and a satisfied smirk crossed the Lord of the Western lands lips for a moment before he replaced his pride with his disinterested mask.

That would show Jaken for underestimating the pup. Sesshomaru would be sure he would not do it again.


	4. Barely Breathing

She wasn't breathing.

Sesshomaru could smell the stale stench of decay on her, echoing deep in her pores and organs. She was lying face up, her chest ripped open with wounds appeared like came from daggers. Her eyes, once filled with brilliant light, were dull and empty, wide with an expression of horror marred into her stone features.

Questions shot through his mind, faster than the wind could carry him, more pointed and painful than feel of Tessaiga ripping through his skin. His breath, usually so even and calculated, came through his nostrils in heavy bursts.

Why had she been without him? How long had it been since her heart stopped beating? How long had she lay there, so cold in the mud, before he came upon her? What pain had she felt during her attack? Why had his trek to her taken so long? He couldn't remember, his world was a whirlwind.

Tensaiga did not hum at his side. He could not see the pall bearers of death huddled over her form. His eyebrows knitted and her he felt anger beyond his comprehension echo through his form.

Rin – little Rin – _the pup_ – there was no bringing her back.

It was a thought he denied to believe the moment it crept from the back of his mind. Although tensaiga refused to breathe life he pulled it quickly from its sheath. He swiped at the air around her. Nothing happened. He tried again. And again. And again.

The heavy demonic energy that he usually kept tightly controlled beneath his skin morphed at all once. His eyes bled red as a howl-scream ripped through his body. The noise was so loud that it shook the earth beneath him; again and again he was quaking as the anger and pain and sorrow that enveloped him rushed out from his frame in waves.

Rin – little Rin – _the pup_ – was dead.

The shaking continued beneath him and through him, as he felt his bones begin to shift, length, and break as his true form began to take control. He just about to tip into cavernous place he reserved only for his deepest of instincts when he heard a voice frantic at his ear.

"_Lord Sesshomaru! Wake up! Wake up!_"

Suddenly, he was plummeting through ground as though pulled by his ankle into the deepest parts of the earth. He, the great Sesshomaru, for a moment couldn't breathe, as though a weight on his chest kept him from doing so.

"_Lord Sesshomaru! For the love of Kami! _**Awaken**_!_"

A burst of white energy that would smite any other demonic aura exploded in his chest and in a flash of a moment he was jarred awake.

His heightened senses and the smell of danger left him to grip the neck of the creature whose voice was at his ear. He could still feel the heat of red over his eyes as his vision cleared.

The inhuman green-blue eyes of Aiko, his new warden and resident miko, bore back into his with a level of ice that Sesshomaru did not known humans could possess. His gaze flickered down to his chest where he found her palms pressed into the fabric of his sleep yukata, her knees straddling his stomach in a mess of robe and cloth.

He released her roughly with a shove that forced her off of his futon and onto the floor.

"Leave this Sesshomaru."

The demand was void of emotion but husky with it all at the same time.

From his peripheral vision, he could see Aiko rubbing the already bruised wound at her neck, grimacing as the ice of her eyes changed to fire and he could hear the sound of her teeth clenching.

"You wooed my father and summoned my presence at this forsaken castle for the singular purpose of protecting your little ward from those who seek to destroy you when you are away." Her voice was thick with venom and clear disgust. "Yet it is you, the great Lord Sesshomaru, who I suspect is perhaps the biggest threat to her. If you cannot control your emotions–"

"Silence." His voice was deep, commanding, and arguably coated in some kind of magic because Aiko's angular face that was once twisted with rage immediately fell into a nearly fearful frown. His golden eyes stared deeply into her face. "If you care so little for your life as to speak to this Sesshomaru as though he is your equal, then it will be ended now, in this moment, before any more travesties will be committed."

His gaze did not let up, but he paused for a long moment before speaking again.

"Your duty to this house is to protect Rin and to speak your insolent mouth and grand notions to yourself. If you speak to this Sesshomaru out of turn again, you will not be given the courtesy you are being given now. Now do as this Sesshomaru said and be gone."

She did not speak, she merely stood in a mess of limbs and half-curtseyed before stormed through the sliding door, forcefully shutting it behind her.

Sesshomaru leaned back against the wall at the head of his futon. His blood was pumping so loudly in his ears that he almost missed the soft voice that called out from the edges of his hearing only a few moments later.

"_Where did you go?_ _Is Lord Sesshomaru sick? I heard a loud noise. Can I go see him?_" It was Rin's voice, alive and well and cracking at the edges from sleep. There was a shuffling, what the Lord of the Western Lands presumed to be Aiko shifting onto the girls' bed.

"_No, you cannot see him. He is not well, but he will be fine._" Aiko's voice was a half-whisper, laced again with the venom he had heard her speak before.

He ignored the rest of their exchange, grounding his claws into heavy fists, feeling angry and desperate and for the first time in his long life – truly unnerved.

What if he was a danger to Rin?

What if he was the one to hurt her?

He had made a vow over a year ago to destroy the one who haunted her nightmares – the creature Naraku – and he had been successful. He had brought her back to his home despite the protests of his servants. He thought her to be in the safest place possible, however, after one failed coo on his territory while he was visiting the Northern Lands on peaceful terms, he came upon the dawning that Rin would need to be protected at all costs. And who better to protect against demons then a powerful Miko.

It had taken some persuading and a death threat to have Haji give up his daughter, but she was known across his territory has the strongest of her kin in decades. Rin was now protected at all days and nights of the hour. He needn't fear for her safety.

But, the thought sprung in his stomach like a cobra ready to strike.

What if _he_ would be the one to cause her nightmares?

Authors Note: HII! It has been a very long time. I honestly have no idea where I'm taking this book of drabbles, but hopefully you've enjoyed this one! :) Thank you for all the follows and feedback! You all are too kind :)


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